Bashkir Curly

About the Breed

Exact origin unknown, the Bashkir Curly is an unusual horse. It is thought to have descended from the Russian Bashkir but this cannot be proven and is considered implausible by many. It is possible that the Bashkir Curly originally came from the Tajikistan region instead. There are many theories. More recently the Curly has been traced to central Nevada and a man named Peter Damele. He and his father found three horses with kinked hair in 1898 and began to breed them. Many Curly horses in the US can be traced back to his original herd.

The Bashkir Curly is a curly-coated horse, though not all exhibit the extreme kinked coat. They are considered to be hypoallergenic for most people. Breeding two Curly horses together will produce a fifty percent chance of a curly coat in the offspring. Harsh weather doesn’t seem to bother this breed overly much and it has been known to survive winters without supplemental feed.

Most Curly horses shed their coats completely in the summer, often becoming near bald. They will shed out their mane hair and sometimes their tails completely as well. In the fall, they begin to regrow the distinctive kinked coat for the winter. The coat often looks like crushed velvet or appears as tight ringlets. It can also appear as a Marcel Wave. The Mane and tail are also kinky, wavy, or in ringlets.

Registries and organizations include the American Bashkir Curly Registry (ABCR), The International Curly Horse Organization (ICHO), the Curly Sporthorse International (CSI), and the Canadian Curly Horse Association (CCHA).

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